


Five Times Whizzer Lost At Chess And One Time He Won

by unjellify



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn, Falsettos - Lapine/Finn (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: Breakup, Breakup Fic, M/M, follows lyrics kind of?, idk how to tag a fic, leads up to The Chess Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unjellify/pseuds/unjellify
Summary: Five times Whizzer loses at chess and one time he wins.
Relationships: Whizzer Brown & Marvin, Whizzer Brown/Marvin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Five Times Whizzer Lost At Chess And One Time He Won

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first ever Falsettos fic and I'm honestly pretty proud of it. It 100% isn't my best - These characters are pretty new to me, and I can only hope that I didn't completely butcher Jason, but I hope you enjoy!! <3

Five times Whizzer lost at chess and one time he won.

One - 

Marvin flicks Whizzer’s queen from the board and grins at him.

“Fuck you,” Whizzer says. He halfheartedly swings a pawn forward.

“I’ll fuck you later. Jason’s home, remember?” 

Whizzer frowns. 

“I don’t like doing something that you do with your son,” he admits. 

Marvin pauses from his thinking, and looks up at him, his brow furrowed. 

“What?” 

“Chess.” Whizzer looks back down at the chessboard, where Marvin’s side was already dominating the majority. He licks his lips. Across from him, Marvin waits silently.   
“It’s just.. I’m already your dirty little secret, aren’t I? Screwing you behind your family’s back already seems like enough, but doing this makes it worse. You always talk about how chess is all the kid has; it feels as though I’m intruding on that.” 

Marvin moves his castle-thing to take Whizzer’s horse. 

There was an innuendo in there somewhere, probably.

“Whizzer,” Marvin begins. Whizzer looks up at him.

“If Jason walked in and saw us playing chess right now, he’d probably be glad that I’m teaching you. You’re pathetic.”

The pit in his stomach doesn’t fade, but Whizzer smirks anyway.   
“You call this teaching? You and your glass-fragile masculinity get off on me being bad at things, you’d never actually want me to get better.” Part of him hopes Marvin will disagree with him.

The older man chuckles, and Whizzer feels sick. He looks back at the board, but as soon as he does, Marvin says, 

“Oh! Checkmate, by the way. You’re making dinner tonight, yeah?”

Two -

“I don’t think I understand what the hell a knight does,” Whizzer admits. Jason’s eyes light up, and eagerly he explains, “It goes in an L shape - one forward and three to either side, or 3 forward and one to either side. It can jump over everyone, too. Does that help?” 

Whizzer looks at him, open mouthed. This was his first time playing chess with Jason, and just from that, he knew more than Marvin had ever told him.

“Yeah… Yeah, it does, thank you, kiddo.” 

Jason smiles simply, still aglow from being able to teach him something. “Did my dad never tell you?”    
Whizzer sighs.

“It’s not that he never told me.. He just sorta expected me to know how to play, then when he found out I couldn’t, he decided he wanted to win more than he wanted me to learn.”    
Jason frowns. “Why did you ever play with him if he didn’t wanna teach you?” 

Why  _ did _ Whizzer ever play chess with Marvin? It wasn’t as if he enjoyed it - more often than not, it would dissolve into a fight - but he didn’t think he would ever stop. 

Whizzer hated how much he loved fighting. The thinly-veiled barbs, the biting tone they’d take on with each other, both equally determined to bring the other to submission. 

He hated how he’d sleep with other people just so he could make up insults on the way home to throw into Marvin’s face; how they were so much  _ better _ than him, how they let him do what he wanted, how they weren’t as selfish and rough. How they asked if they could do things, instead of taking what they wanted. Then Marvin would always ask in response why he didn’t go screw up their lives instead of his, and Whizzer would be unable to answer. 

He’d finally reply, “they’re too nice,” then Marvin would look at him with that stupid, burning heat in his eyes and then one of them would push the other onto the bed and then the game would start all over again. 

Whizzer takes a breath. “Sometimes people do crazy things for their friends.” 

Jason nods. “Wait, are you sure you wanna go there? Because if you go there, then I can put you in check, and then you’ll have to move your knight, which’ll give my rook open access to your bishop and that’s the only thing guarding your-” 

Whizzer loses. 

Three - 

Whizzer smiles. Marvin frowns.    
“Where the hell did you learn how to do that?”    
Whizzer smiles wider, and looks down at the newly taken queen in his hand.    
“You taught me.” 

Marvin blinks, the confused creases on his face somehow doubling.   
“Did I?”    
“Yup. Jason showed me that. He probably learned it from you.” 

Marvin swallows. Very quietly, he says,

“You played with Jason?”   
Whizzer pauses, searching his lover’s face for a clue on what to say next. 

Brushing it off would only lead to anger, and then they’d fight.

Appearing gleeful about it would make Marvin jealous, and then they’d fight. 

Instead, Whizzer carefully nods, bracing himself for the inevitable lecture about staying away from Marvin’s family.

Marvin only looks at him. And looks, and looks, until Whizzer’s shifting uncomfortably in his seat. 

“He doesn’t even play with me,” Marvin says simply. Moves a rook.

Whizzer’s stomach drops. 

“What?” He can hardly whisper.

Marvin shrugs. “You heard me. He only ever plays alone. We’re trying to get him a psychiatrist, but we can’t find any - and I’ll be damned before I let him see mine.”    
_ We. _

Whizzer’s known for a long time that he’s the side piece, intruding on what otherwise could very well have been a happy family. It still stings when he’s faced with it, though.    
Numbly, he nods, and distractedly moves a piece, flinching when Marvin lets out a whoop and puts him in checkmate. 

  
  


Four - 

“How was I supposed to know your coworker would’ve picked up?!” 

Whizzer moves a pawn forward, purposefully exposing his last bishop.   
“Oh, I don’t know,” sneers Marvin. “Maybe because I stayed home sick today and you  _ knew _ that! You’re trying to lose me my job.” 

Unsurprisingly, Whizzer’s bishop gets flicked off the board.

Whizzer rolls his eyes, and throws his turn on a pawn.

“Oh, please. For all he knows, I was just some friend of yours trying to play a prank by pretending I was, like.. A male hooker, or something. You didn’t get fired, correct?”    
Marvin puts his king in check.   
“No, I’m not fired, but you should  _ never _ , under any circumstance, greet somebody of the same sex by saying that you’re ‘naked and waiting’.  _ Especially _ if you’re calling my work phone.” 

Whizzer smirks, and puts his queen into the line of fire, effectively forfeiting the game, but saving Marvin his pride.

“Your coworker sounded hot. Not my fault I didn’t stop talking when he picked up instead of you.”    
Marvin’s eyes darken, and he shoves his rook forward, spitting out the word, “Checkmate.”    
Whizzer’s grin widens. He watches amusedly as Marvin shoves the board off of the table, the pieces falling to the floor of the den with a loud clattering noise. He lets himself get pulled off of his chair and pushed against the wall, but bats Marvin’s hand away as it goes for his shirt button.    
“I don’t belong to you, Marvin. I never will. If that coworker called me back, I would’ve said yes.”

Marvin’s hooded expression falters, and Whizzer takes the opportunity to switch their positions; flipping them around, he starts on Marvin’s tie, laughing as Marvin’s hands start grabbing at his ass. 

A loud gasp from the den’s door shatters the thick, unrelenting haze of angry lust. 

He pushes away from Marvin, and turns around to see Trina, clutching onto the doorframe.   
“I.. I heard a crash from in here.” She says faintly. 

Whizzer’s heart stops. The world seems to slow - Marvin walking up to stand at his shoulder, Trina hugging herself, Jason appearing beside her elbow, his little face scrunched up in confusion while he looked from Whizzer to his overturned chess board - it all fades away, and the only thing Whizzer can think of is to  _ get out.  _

Five - 

Whizzer is sitting at a public park table, playing chess by himself.

At first, he tries to mimic Jason; moving the pieces and flipping the board around and around faster than anyone should be able to process, but that just confuses him. Then he tries to mimic what Marvin would do; and decides to intimidate the other side by not letting any emotion toward the opponent’s move show. Then he remembers that he’s alone, and takes a moment to feel foolish. 

“Whizzer?”    
A familiar voice cuts through his own thoughts. He turns to look, and sees Jason. Trying to ignore the violent feeling of guilt that blossomed at the sight of him, he forces a smile.   
“Hey, buddy! What are you doing here?”   
Jason seems taken aback at his cheerfulness.    
“I... came to play chess. Mom’s at her therapist, and my father’s packing. My chess club meets here so I come here alone a lot.”   
Whizzer’s smile falters.

“...Packing?” 

“Yeah, you didn’t know? They’re getting divorced.” Jason says spitefully. “About time, too. They already fought too much, even before you came along.”    
Whizzer fights the urge to burst into tears. He sounds like Marvin. No kid deserves to have to sound so much like Marvin.

“Wanna play?” He says instead. 

Jason looks at him suspiciously. Shrugs. 

Whizzer tries again, softening his voice.

“Please?” 

Jason hesitates, but sits. They play.    
They play until Whizzer’s fingers get sore, and Jason finally seems like he has to actually try to beat him. 

They play until the sun is nearly down, until Jason has won what feels like a million games.

Suddenly, Whizzer is unpleasantly tugged out of his concentration by an angry looking Marvin approaching them both. 

Jason twists around in his chair, and his calm expression is replaced with contempt. 

Marvin stares at Whizzer. He grabs Jason’s shoulder and hauls him up, eyes still on Whizzer.

“Where did you go?” 

Jason snidely starts to say something, but Marvin interrupts.

“I was asking Whizzer.”    
Jason glares. Whizzer says nothing.

“Whizzer,” Marvin starts again. “Where did you go?”    
“Let’s get Jason home,” Whizzer finally replies. “His mom’s probably worried.”   
Marvin presses his lips together, and turns to walk away, beckoning for Whizzer to follow, and together they all walk silently. 

Once Jason’s inside, Marvin turns towards Whizzer on the doorstep of his ex-wife’s house, one eyebrow raised.   
Whizzer sighs. “Both of you want me gone. I split up your marriage. So I left.”   
Marvin frowns, disbelieving.

“Whizzer, I don’t want you gone-” 

Whizzer scoffs. 

“Whizzer. I divorced my wife for you.”    
Whizzer goes silent, his heart beating numb. 

“I didn’t ask you to.” It’s too much. He knows that he’ll only disappoint Marvin, in the end - that once all of the passion they somehow still have fades away, Marvin will get tired of his non-monogamous ideals, and Whizzer won’t be able to give him the loyalty he wants. Whizzer knows, god, he knows, but all of his logic crumbles to dust as Marvin moves toward him, and kisses him.   
Whizzer inhales sharply, but kisses him back, the familiar slide of their lips together already warming him up against his will, like it always seems to do.

  
  


Whizzer Wins-

“I think I’ve forgotten how to play. It’s been too long,” Whizzer lies. 

It had been months since he had practiced in the park with Jason. Things were more or less the same; less secrecy, but they still fought, still made empty threats to end their relationship. Whizzer still slept around, Marvin still got jealous. It was the happiest Whizzer had ever felt.

“I can reteach you.” Marvin states. “You have to protect the king, above all else, for starters.”   
“Well I know  _ that _ ,” Whizzer mutters. 

“Okay, then play the damn game.” Marvin replies. 

Whizzer pauses. He had practiced for hours by himself in private - he was certain he could beat the other man, if he tried. If he wanted to.

“Move the pawn.” Marvin says flatly. 

Whizzer hesitates. He remembers something Marvin had said to him a few weeks prior; 

_ “You’re supposed to always be here- making dinner, ready to let me screw you. That’s what pretty boys should do, isn’t it?” _

Swallowing, he slowly puts his hand on the queen. 

The response is immediate. 

“Not the queen.”    
“Who?” 

“Jesus christ.” 

He pauses for a moment more, to keep up the illusion. 

“I remember a piece that moves in an L pattern- which one’s that? Can’t they jump over other pieces?”

Marvin nods. “The knight. It looks like a horse.”   
Whizzer moves the knight, and immediately asks if he can take it back. 

Marvin lets out a long, suffering, better-than-thee sigh.

“Maybe you could show me where?” Whizzer asks.

Marvin leans forward. “Do you want my help?” It’s a statement, mockingly said. 

“No, I don’t. I can think it through myself.”   
“Just go again, we’ve already seen the worst.” 

“Great! I’ll go.”    
Whizzer moves a pawn forward at random.

Marvin leans in closer.

“Good first move.”   
He’s lying.

“Thanks. Take a turn,” Whizzer replies. 

“Thank you kindly.”   
Marvin’s examining the board.

Whizzer smiles to himself, and points at a bishop.

“Move. The. Pawn.”

Marvin glares at him.    
“That’s a bishop. The front row are all pawns.”   
Whizzer’s mouth forms an O shape. 

He points to a pawn this time.

“Move. The. Pawn.”

He turns his hand around in the air, elbow resting on the middle of the chess board. 

“Take my hand.”    
Marvin hesitates, then does so. 

Whizzer makes his touch brief, and light. He slowly moves the pawn while gripping Marvin’s hand. He goes to let go, but Marvin just holds tighter and breathes, “God, you’re pretty.”   
Whizzer smiles. 

“Pity that that’s all I am. What should I do now?”

Marvin frowns, and releases his hand. 

“What do you mean that’s all you are?” 

“I know what you think of me. I know you think I’m stupid. It’s fine, really, chess just isn’t for me.” 

  


“I don’t think you’re stupid.”

He’s lying again. He should be agreeing, not sparing his feelings. Whizzer doesn’t like that. He doesn’t want to be treated gently. He wants to be treated as an equal - something that Marvin only does when they’re arguing. 

“Whatever. Maybe we should call it quits.”    
“Yeah, this game’s shit.”   
“I didn’t mean the game.” Whizzer says coolly. 

Marvin blinks. 

“Let me win?” Whizzer asks. 

The man across from him nods, his mouth downturned at the corners. 

Whizzer’s heart beats elatedly. 

Quickly, he moves for his side, then Marvin’s side, then his side again, alternating back and forth until Marvin’s pieces are in a little pile on the side of the table and the man across from him is gaping. 

“Checkmate.” Whizzer says proudly. 

Turns out he can play, after all.

One, two, three beats of complete silence.    
Marvin gets up and walks away quietly. 

Whizzer’s mouth drops. 

Marvin has never once walked away from a potential argument.

A few minutes pass.

“Marvin,” Whizzer calls out. “It’s just a ga-” 

He falters. 

Marvin’s at the door again, holding Whizzer’s suitcase.    
_ “You’re supposed to always be here- making dinner, ready to let me screw you. That’s what pretty boys should do, isn’t it?” _

“I think this should come to an end.” 

  
  
  



End file.
